North American Bonsai

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An old Sierra Juniper (Juniperus occidentalis) by John Romano. Height 42″.

In the next few months, Bill Valavanis’ 1st US National Bonsai Exhibition Commemorative Album will be back from the printer and ready for your enjoyment. Meanwhile, there is another very noteworthy book that features some great home grown American (and Canadian) bonsai. It’s the American Bonsai Society‘s North American Bonsai (compiled and edited by Martin Schmalenberg).

When I first saw it, I was impressed with some of the trees but not completely taken by the collection as a whole. I think my bias towards Japanese bonsai clouded my vision. True, many of the trees would never make the cut into most Japanese exhibitions, but maybe that’s not the point. Though we can still learn from the Japanese masters, we don’t need to continually compare our trees with the Japanese, in fact, we do ourselves a disservice when we do.

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Deeply Discounted Bonsai & Japanese Garden Products at Stone Lantern
Deeply Discounted Bonsai & Japanese Garden Products at Stone Lantern

Have You Thought About Field Growing?

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Have you tried field growing? You don’t need a lot of space to experiment with a small number of plants and the results will easily exceed expectations that have been conditioned by container growing.

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One of the reasons the Japanese have so many well developed bonsai is field growing. In the west, we tend to grow bonsai stock in containers. In Japan, most stock is field grown; you’ve no doubt noticed the strikingly powerful Japanese Black Pines in the two photos above (from Morten Albek’s Shohin Bonsai). Though I don’t know how old those massive trunks are, my best guess is they are around fifteen or so, even though they look much, much older.

Continue reading Have You Thought About Field Growing?

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Welcome to Bonsai Bark

bark

Welcome to the first post on our new blog. We’ve decided to call it Bonsai Bark. This name, in addition to being easy to remember, says something about what we would like to communicate. Bonsai stripped bare down to the bark; revealed, open, visible, exposed. Accessible to anyone willing to take a close look.

I once read that the first Westerners to see Japanese bonsai thought there was some sort of magic involved. Now we know better; bonsai, like any art, requires a mix of desire, vision, feeling, technique, experience and patience. Nothing supernatural needed. Some talent doesn’t hurt, but even the least artistic or clumsiest of us can learn to grow and style bonsai that bring us some pleasure.

I think we all started out a bit like those first Westerners. We liked what we saw, but had no idea how get there. So we started a journey towards understanding. Some of you are well along on that journey, while some have just scratched the surface. Hopefully this blog will have something for all of you, no matter where you are.

We plan on posting two or three times a week. Once or twice will be informative or how-to stuff. Other posts might be book reviews, bonsai events and other news, and some promotional stuff to keep you up on our products and services.

The photo at the top of the post is from Bonsai Today issue 106.

We are interested in your feedback, so don’t hesitate to comment.

Deeply Discounted Bonsai & Japanese Garden Products at Stone Lantern